


live—until I cease to be

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [32]
Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Protectiveness, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-20
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2017-10-26 08:32:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/280915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck quickly ducked behind the potted plant, trying to be invisible. If he stayed entirely motionless and didn't breathe at all, maybe the vampires wouldn't notice him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	live—until I cease to be

**Author's Note:**

> Title: live—until I cease to be  
> Fandom: Chuck  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Lord Byron  
> Warnings: vampire AU  
> Pairings: pre-Bryce/Chuck  
> Rating: PG13  
> Wordcount: 1050  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Chuck, Chuck(/Casey or Bryce or Shaw), blood in the water

Chuck quickly ducked behind the potted plant, trying to be invisible. If he stayed entirely motionless and didn't breathe at all, maybe the vampires wouldn't notice him.

Despite his prayers and fervent hopes, he wasn't that surprised when the vampires found him within seconds.

Stupid heartbeat.

o0o

Turns out, the vampires worked for The Black Ring slavers, and they were looking for new meat. And Chuck, while a geek and pacifist, was in very good physical condition and had nowhere near an alpha personality, so the vampires thought he'd make an excellent addition to their collection.

He tried not to think that Bryce wouldn't have ever been in this situation.

He also tried not to think about how much Ellie would cry when he just simply vanished, like their parents. Maybe this is what happened to them.

o0o

Waiting around in the cage, Chuck really had nothing to do except think. He'd already silently worked his way through Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica facts, and now he kept reminiscing.

Stanford. Jill, his dream girl. And Bryce. His best friend, his brother, the guy who understood him and geeked out with him and told him that together they could do anything. Would do anything. Couldn't be stopped, together. The whole world was theirs.

Then Bryce betrayed him for no reason, and that led to here. The cage. The vampire slavers.

Turns out, he and Bryce had no future at all.

o0o

And then, the vampires started panicking. Hissing and snarling at each other, watching the door warily, looking around in fear.

Chuck would've found this change promising, except _nothing_ scared vampires. Nothing human, anyway. The Old Ones could frighten almost every vampire younger than five thousand. Old Ones, according to myth, could even live without blood for decades and barely tap their reserves.

So since nothing human would be making the slavers act like terrified puppies, only an Old One could be approaching.

And that... could not be good.

o0o

So when Bryce Larkin appeared out of thin air in the midst of the slavers, Chuck did not believe his eyes. Bryce died six months ago, after a break-in at his office when he was working late. Bryce _died_. Chuck even attended his funeral and got drunk after. He sobbed out a confession to Ellie about his crush on Bryce, the whole time he was with Jill.

But there Bryce was, ripping vampires apart with his bare hands, face totally expressionless. He _actually got faster_ the whole time, tearing off heads and shredding ribcages, squishing hearts in-between his fingers.

Chuck didn't take a breath until it was done, every vampire in pieces and Bryce standing silently standing amongst their dismembered corpses. The rest of the people in the cage were crying or begging or whimpering, pressed as far back as they could get, faces covered by their hands.

But Chuck stared at Bryce, who was looking right back at him, and when Bryce said, "I got you kicked out of Stanford to show how little I cared for you because one of my children had gone rogue." He nodded his head to the slavers' remains and said, "They were the last of his clan."

Bryce strode forward, saying, "Breathe, Chuck. You're still human. You need the air."

Chuck took a deep breath, fairly sure he was hallucinating. Maybe the slavers had given him something.

Bryce smiled at him, that same smile when Chuck managed to beat him at something, like he was happy at Chuck's success. He was so different from anyone Chuck had ever known. Even Morgan grumbled when Chuck did better.

"I missed you," Bryce said, tearing off the door of the cage.

The people were being as still and quiet as possible, but Bryce seemed so _normal_. Exactly like Chuck's friend back at Stanford. Just a genius, charismatic, gorgeous guy. Chuck had always wondered what Bryce saw in _him_ , a bumbling geek, and here, Bryce had even come back from the dead to annihilate vampires for him.

"What are you?" Chuck asked as he took Bryce's offered hand to jump out of the cage. Bryce just shrugged, so Chuck turned back, trying to get the people to follow him. "C'mon," he said. "Let's get out of here."

None of them reacted and Chuck frowned, leaning half in. "Guys?"

"They're in a trance," Bryce told him. "They'll wake up when we're gone."

Chuck looked back at him. "What?"

Bryce smiled again, this time his _it's for your own good, so do what I say smile_ , the one that got Chuck to drink various concoctions every time he got sick because they were Granna Rose's special recipe and cured everything from colds to allergic reactions to mono and pneumonia.

In hindsight, Chuck was a gullible moron because every one of those medications had been dark red.

"You claimed me," Chuck said.

"Yes."

"Why?" he asked, moving past confusion into apprehension because, even after everything, Bryce still felt safe.

"You are unique, Chuck, unlike any soul I've met in my entire existence." He reached up to cup Chuck's cheek with his palm. "And you are mine, Chuck. Even if you deny me until your dying day, I will protect you. These children knew what they did when they grabbed you—their last defiant act to the one who made their maker." He pulled away and Chuck sighed at the loss of contact.

They were both silent for a moment, Chuck avoiding Bryce's steady gaze. Finally, Bryce said, "I'll take you home. Ellie's worried."

Chuck nodded.

o0o

At the door, Chuck paused, turning to Bryce. They'd been quiet on the way and nobody had bothered them. Chuck could've sworn a few guys he somehow knew were vampires had fled in the opposite direction. Bryce looked sad by porchlight, tired and so very young.

"Come by tomorrow," he said. "Midmorning. Ellie and Awesome will be at work."

This time, it was Bryce's relieved smile, the one he wore whenever Chuck forgave him back at Stanford. "We'll talk," Chuck said, and Bryce nodded.

Chuck slid his key into the lock and turned the knob. He knew Bryce wouldn't leave until he was inside, and most likely not even then. "Thank you," he murmured.

Bryce just brushed a hand along his shoulder and faded into the night like he'd never been.


End file.
